Fountain attachment for faucets



y 1969 T. M. M DONNELL FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENT FOR FAUCETS Filed Dec. 14,1967 rivenror Thomas M. McDonnell y Attorney United States Patent3,443,753 FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENT FOR FAUCETS Thomas M. McDonnell, Oak Park,Ill., assignor of one-half to John Farina, Chicago, Ill. Filed Dec. 14,1967, Ser. No. 690,653 Int. Cl. E03b 9/20; E03c 1/00 US. Cl. 239-27 3Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A removable attachment for convertingan ordinary water faucet into a drinking fountain comprising a resilienttubular body having opposed valve shaft openings and a dispensing holeextending laterally therethrough, a deflector valve mounted on a shafthaving ends received in said openings and a handle on the outside ofsaid body for deflecting water from the bore of the body through thedispensing hole, and a non-resilient cap over the lower free end of thebody having recesses to journal the ends of the shaft and a spout spacedfrom but aligned with the body dispensing hole for directing waterdeflected through the hole in an upward direction.

This invention relates to drinking fountain attachments of the typedisclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,524,956.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved fountainattachment of simple design and construction which is economical toproduce and which may be readily attached to the discharge spout of aconventional water faucet without requiring any tools or specialequipment.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision, in a device ofthe type described, of a resilient tubular body having an internal valvefor deflecting water from the bore of the body through a discharge hole,and a nonresilient cap sleeved over the lower end of the tube to keepthe tube rigid, to journal the ends of the valve shaft, and to afford aspout for directing water deflected through the discharge hole in anupward direction.

These and other objects will be apparent from an examination of thefollowing description and drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective of a device embodying features of theinvention, as shown attached to the discharge spout of a conventionalwater faucet;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the structureillustrated in FIGURE 1, with portions of the structure shown invertical section;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are perspective views of the body valve and capcomponents, respectively, of the device illustrated in the other views.

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elementsmay have been omitted from certain views where they are believed to beillustrated to better advantage in other views.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of theinvention, and particularly to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that anattachment A for converting an ordinary water faucet into a drinkingfountain is shown as applied to the spout or outlet 0 of a faucet.

As best seen in FIGURE 2, the attachment of the invention includes abody 10, having a cap 12 over the lower or free end thereof, and havingan internal valve 14.

Body 10, as best seen in FIGURES 2, and 4, is a generally cylindricaltube preferably formed of a resilient material such as rubber.

Body is provided, at a location spaced upward, ap-

3,443,753 Patented May 13, 1969 "Ice proximately one-third of thedistance from its lower end, with a pair of diametrically opposed shaftreceiving openings 20 and a pair of vertical slits 22 extending from therespective openings 20 downward to the lower free edge of the body. Theslits 22 serve two distinct functions: one is to afford a simple meansof inserting the valve into position within the body, and the other isto facilitate positioning of cap 12 over the lower end of body 10.

Body 10 is also provided with a discharge hole 24 which is located atapproximately the same distance from the lower end of the body asopenings 20 but is spaced circumferentially approximately degrees fromthe openings. Discharge hole 24 extends laterally completely through thewall of the body and is preferably inclined upwardly and forwardly fromthe bore of the body.

Cap 12, as best seen in FIGURES 2 and 6, is preferably formed of anon-resilient material such as metal, and is cylindrical in shape havinga skirt or side wall 30 and an integral inturned peripheral flange 32 atthe lower end thereof.

Also, cap 12 is provided with an integral outwardly flared dischargespout 34.

At the upper edges of cap side wall 30 there are provided a pair ofdiametrically opposed recesses 36.

As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 5, valve 14, also preferably formed of anon-resilient material such as metal, includes a shaft 40 having ahandle 42 formed integrally with one end thereof and a deflector plate44 formed integrally with or fixed to a medial portion of shaft 40.Plate 44 may be provided with an operative 46, the purpose of which ishereinafter described.

Again referring to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that valve 14 is mountedwithin body 10 so that valve plate 44 is positioned within the bore ofthe body and the opposite ends of valve shaft 40 project out of bodyside openings 20, with handle 42 being positioned on the outside of thebody.

In assembling the device, slits 22 in the body permit the valve to beinserted into the body by passing the ends of the shaft up through theslits until they are received within openings 20.

After valve 14 has been positioned within body 10, cap 12 is slippedover the lower end of the body until cap flange 32 is snugly abuttingthe lower free end of the body side wall. It will be seen that the widthof the cap flange is approximately equal to the Wall thickness of thebody. External pressure is then applied to the cap to press fit it overthe body. Slits 22 in the body facilitate the press fit of thenon-resilient cap over the resilient body.

It will be noted that recesses 36 in the upper edge of cap side wall 30are aligned with openings 22 in body 10 and serve to journal the ends ofvalve shaft 40. If the entire device were formed of rubber the fittingbetween the body openings and the shaft ends would become increasinglysloppy with continued. use until the valve could no longer be positionedin proper alignment within the bore of the body.

It will also be noted that discharge spout 34 is spaced outwardly frombut aligned with discharge hole 24 in the front part of the body.

After the upper end of the body has been slipped over the lower end of awater faucet discharge spout, without the use of any tools or specialequipment, the device is ready for use.

To convert the faucet to a drinking fountain, after the water has beenturned on, valve handle 42 is moved a sufiicient distance to cause shaft40 to rotate and bring plate 44 from a vertical, non-operative position,to an inclined position, as shown in FIGURE 2, where it serves todeflect the water without passing through the bore of the body outwardlythrough body opening 24 where it is further deflected and directedupwardly by cap discharge spout 34. The purpose of aperture 46 in plate44 is to permit a certain amount of the Water to pass through the plateand thereby minimize the water pressure, as very little pressure isrequired for the drinking fountain attachments.

After the attachment has been used as a drinking fountain, the valve maybe returned to the vertical or nonoperative position.

Thus, it will be understood that the invention comprises a relativelysimple and inexpensive attachment which, because of its resilient body,may be readily slipped over a faucet spout, and yet which because of itsnon-resilient cap and valve, will have a long service life.

I claim:

1. A drinking fountain attachment for a water faucet, comprising:

(a) a generally cylindrical, resilient, tubular body having a bore ofgenerally uniform diameter throughout its length;

(b) said body being uninterrupted throughout its circumference at itsupper end to accommodate its attachment to a discharge spout of a waterfaucet;

(c) said body having a pair of diametrically opposed valve shaftreceiving openings spaced upwardly from the lower end thereof, and adischarge hole disposed approximately 90 degrees circumferentially fromsaid openings;

(d) a valve positioned in said body and including:

(i) a horizontal shaft with ends disposed to extend through saidopenings;

(ii) a deflector plate mounted on said shaft in said body bore formovement between an inoperative position, parallel to the axis of thebore, and an operative position, angularly related to the axis of thebore, where it can deflect water from the bore through the dischargehole of the body;

(iii) a handle on one end of said shaft disposed outside of said bodyfor moving said plate between inoperative and operative positions;

(e) a generally cylindrical, non-resilient discharge cap snugly fittedover the lower end of said body and including:

(i) a side wall having at its lower end an integral,

inwardly extending flange;

(ii) said side wall having in its upper edge a pair of recesses alignedwith respective openings in said body for receiving and journallingopposite ends of said shaft;

(iii) said side wall also having at its upper edge an integral,outwardly flared discharge spout aligned with said body discharge holeand operable to direct forwardly and upwardly the water that isdeflected by said valve plate through said body discharge hole.

2. drinking fountain attachment for a water faucet, compnsing:

(a) a generally cylindrical, resilient, tubular body having a borethroughout its length;

(b) said body being uninterrupted throughout its circumference at itsupper end to accommodate its attachment to a discharge spout of a waterfaucet;

(c) said body having a pair of diametrically opposed valve shaftreceiving openings spaced upwardly from the lower end thereof, and adischarge hole disposed approximately degrees circumferentially fromsaid openings;

(d) a valve positioned in said body and including:

(i) a horizontal shaft with ends disposed to extend through saidopenings;

(ii) a deflector plate mounted on said shaft in said body bore formovement between an inoperative position, parallel to the axis of thebore, and an operative position, angularly related to the axis of thebore, where it can deflect water from the bore through the dischargehole of the body;

(iii) a handle on one end of said shaft disposed outside of said bodyfor moving said plate between inoperative and operative positions;

(e) a generally cylindrical, non-resilient discharge cap snugly fittedover the lower end of said body and:

(i) said cap having in its upper edge a pair of recesses aligned withrespective openings in said body for receiving and journalling oppositeends of said shaft;

(ii) said cap also having at its upper edge an integral, outwardlyflared discharge spout aligned with said body discharge hole andoperable to direct forwardly and upwardly the water that is deflected bysaid valve plate through said body discharge hole.

3. An attachment according to claim 2, wherein said body has a pair ofopposed slits extending upwardly from the bottom end thereof to therespective valve shaft receiving openings to permit the insertion ofsaid valve into said body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,524,956 10/1950 Brunetti137-119 XR 3,371,868 3/1968 Abbott 239-27 HAROLD W. WEAKLEY, PrimaryExaminer.

US. Cl. X.R. l371l9, 603

